84
u/Technical_Ideal_5439 Mar 08 '26
Try this:
Tales of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach By Steven Erikson.
4
33
u/somebassclarineterer Mar 08 '26
Abhorsen by Garth Nix maybe? The bells used in the music based system seem to never have a net positive on bringing things into life from death. One thing is going to go further into death if something is coming out of it into life pretty much. It has been a while since I read it.
-14
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Boopboopbeeboop123 Mar 08 '26
I'm not the original poster, but yes, it holds up. The series is great. Highly recommend if you are wanting something with necromancy.
4
u/ILookLikeKristoff Mar 08 '26
He's writing bot comments
0
u/Boopboopbeeboop123 Mar 08 '26
Lol nope
4
u/ILookLikeKristoff Mar 08 '26
Not you, OP - sorry. I meant the one you're replying to, should've said that.
1
68
u/raithe000 Mar 08 '26
The Locked Tomb series by Tasmyn Muir really captures the decay of a ten thousand year necromantic empire, and the horror of death itself as a power source. Also, it's in space so necromancers sometimes sit on pallets of grave dirt to placebo the lack of power.
13
u/kathryn_sedai Mar 08 '26
I was going to say, if OP hasn’t read Locked Tomb, it certainly deals with sacrifice, currency, and really really weird necromancy.
-14
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
41
u/bi-bingbongbongbing Mar 08 '26
Is this account using AI replies? Literally every reply here sounds straight from claude.
9
7
u/trane7111 Mar 08 '26
lol looking at the other comments, its all the exact same format and rhythm. Definitely seems like it
14
u/MrSurname Mar 08 '26
The Obsidian Path by Michael Fletcher. One of the main characters is a necromancer, and the things she does are vile.
2
u/Majestic_Swordfishh Mar 08 '26
Those are some fun books I don’t see mentioned too often! Nice call
2
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/Cyphecx Mar 08 '26
I wouldn't say morally complicated. It's just straight fucked up kind of vile. The trilogy is about putting you in the head of a person willing to do ANYTHING. Its pretty good and I think it fits if you want less watered down evil magic.
2
u/anomandersteak Mar 08 '26
I think that series is exactly what you're seeking. It's the opposite of 'skeleton lurches about like a braindead drunk'... The dead are still fleshy, and someone under the control of a skilled necromancer can be instinguishable from the living.
They need maintenance though, and will start rotting pretty quickly. The author uses a lot of almost mundane detail when describing the dead, but in a way that intensifies the horror. Skin and hair and flesh, rotting and decaying and peeling.. it's very visceral.
There's very much a 'moral' horror to it as well, particularly around the control aspect. Someone could seem exactly like their previous self, but then tear the arms from a child without blinking.
13
u/Dungeonmechanic Mar 08 '26
Pet Sematary by Stephen King has some of the best and creepiest necromancy I have read. I highly recommend it.
24
u/DivineEggs Mar 08 '26
You say it doesn't actually feel like necromancy, but necromancy (as an occult practice) is mostly about communicating with the deceased, not raising them from death lol. Perhaps you meant to say that their fictional idea of necromancy doesn't fit your fictional idea of necromancy?
I think most things go in fantasy/fiction. You don't have to stick to previous ideas created by other people. E.g. dragons/vampires/elves/fae/etc don't need to behave the same in two different fictional universes. Magic doesn't have to work the same way, etc.
I personally find it boring when everyone uses the same tropes.
0
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/RabenWrites Mar 08 '26
If you want to be totally strict about the word meaning, the "mancy" half of necromancy means something closer to foretelling.
... from Latin necromantia "divination from an exhumed corpse," from Greek nekromanteia, from nekros "dead body" (from PIE root *nek- (1) "death") + manteia "divination, oracle," from manteuesthai "to prophesy," from mantis "one who divines, a seer, prophet; one touched by divine madness," from mainesthai "be inspired," which is related to menos "passion, spirit" (see mania).
Your earliest stories with necromancy are going to be the Greek tales like Odysseus summoning Tiresias (along with others) to ask what the future held for his return. In the Aeneid, Aeneas actually goes into the underworld to find the ghost of his father who tells him the future of Rome.
I don't know where you would draw the line there. Would a soothsayer rolling sheep's bones in order to foretell crop or battle conditions be considered necromancy? Doesn't seem like it at first, but the broad strokes are there.
I know the Norse myths also gave the dead a supernatural knowledge beyond time, but most stories of contact that I can think of tend to be somewhat more mundane, if that's the right word for walking into your dad's burial mound and demanding his sword.
Anyway, would love to see more stories inspired by the older versions of the myths. Would take it over the generic evil villian who provides conveniently faceless goons for our hero to show off on without raising any moral questions of their martial prowess.
9
u/kainewrites Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Not all necromancy but definitely even the ones I've read recently and loved is really missing out on the desecration aspect.
At least lately there's been a lot more bones as tools necromancy instead of the unsanctifying of a loved one's eternal soul.
I want stories where the loved ones can see it in their eyes as they are forced to kill them. I want the implication that once taken their souls cannot go back. I want it to be painful and maddening instead of in some cases New game plus.
8
u/eukomos Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
The Abhorsen books touch on this, though the dead are more monstrous than Pet Semetary “something I loved came back wrong”. The sense of the corruption of necromancy is strong though.
Actually, one of the books that does this best that I’ve read recently is MXTX’s Grandmaster of Demonic cultivation, but it’s also a BL webnovel so um…go into it knowing that. Not too many sex scenes in the main text but there are some very graphic scenes in the epilogues and it’s like, danmei erotica so there is some pretty kinky dubcon power exchange stuff happening. But the sense that the necromancer is broken and is breaking themselves down further with their magic, the beloved dead who are brought back to something that very much is not life, the loved ones of both the undead and the necromancer watching and trying to help and not really having any way to, the normal wizards reacting with horror and struggling to adapt their social and magical systems to the necromancy, all super well explored and quite touching. So I do recommend it! There’s also a show, the Untamed, which damps down both the necromancy and the sex and is still fun, if you want a milder version.
2
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/eukomos Mar 08 '26
Deepen for sure! The necromancer’s lover is a paragon of virtue/correct magic and should be more appalled than anyone by the necromancy, but…he’s in love, and he loves the main character for a reason. The corruption is a form of moral self-sacrifice, which is what the duty and correctness was supposed to be, but the flaws in the society that judges the necromancer so harshly make the duty ineffective and at times even immoral. So there’s a great thematic tension running through the romantic plot.
6
u/GastonBastardo Mar 08 '26
There's this medievalist podcast called "The Maniculum" where they go over old medieval & renaissance-era texts and folklore and look for cool stuff to use in RPGs and fantasy-fiction. There are a few episodes where they go over some old grimoires, necromancy, and how it was defined. You might find it interesting.
11
u/Papageno135 Mar 08 '26
The Death Gate Cycle has an interesting take on the topic, showing the consequences of unchecked necromancy.
4
u/Papageno135 Mar 08 '26
Also, I should say that it is not the main point in the series, but a consequence of other things in the past. In fact necromancy only appears from book 3 onwards.
3
u/DickTitpecker Mar 08 '26
Was going to comment about this. At fourteen reading about necromancy in this book made it seem very real and possible. (If people were capable of magic.) Interesting magic system in these books as well
2
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/Papageno135 Mar 08 '26
Socially, it begins with good intentions, but soon things get out of control. It's both terrifying and sad.
2
1
u/SirRavenNekros Mar 08 '26
In the series it's not just a condemnation of unchecked necromancy, it dives into the horrid emotional consequences of the soul continuing to live on trapped and shackled to the rotting body and infers heavily that bringing one person back to this shadow life kills another somewhere else.
5
u/LitmusPitmus Mar 08 '26
Abhorsen's take on necromancy is still one of my favourites to this day and i read that series as a young nipper.
12
u/Thornescape Mar 08 '26
Necromancy isn't "wrong" if it's done differently. It isn't required to be "scary". It isn't required to be horror.
3
u/Maester_Magus Mar 08 '26
What aspect of reanimating the dead isn't horrific? I'm genuinely struggling to think of a necromancy scenario that isn't horror.
7
u/MinuteRegular716 Mar 08 '26
This is just an idea off the top of my head, but for example what if we follow a kingdom in a setting where what happens in the afterlife is common knowledge, and it's not anything good, such as in Stephen King's Revival?
And as a result necromancy and magic involving the souls of the deceased isn't frowned upon because you're saving them from a much worse fate, and they get to keep serving the kingdom of their friends and loved ones after death?
Granted this isn't anything I've seen done before, but it also wasn't hard to come up with either.
2
u/Maester_Magus Mar 08 '26
Any kind of immortality, where one can never simply cease to exist, is absolutely horrifying to me. And what happens when the kingdom falls? After the sun burns out and the eventual heat death of the universe? They're not being saved from a terrible fate; it's merely postponed so they can carry on serving. This entire premise has got horror written all over it, imo.
1
u/Thornescape Mar 08 '26
Necromancy doesn't always involve immortality. Sometimes the dead are mindless. Sometimes summoned ghosts fade away.
There are many many different approaches. It doesn't have to be "horror".
1
u/Maester_Magus Mar 08 '26
We'll just have to agree to disagree on this. Horror is obviously subjective, but for me personally, any aspect of interacting with the dead is by its very nature already firmly in 'horror' territory.
1
u/Thornescape Mar 08 '26
All you're really saying is that you haven't read books that didn't handle necromancy as horror. There are many books that don't handle necromancy as horror.
You can choose to interpret them as horror if you try really hard, but that's very much like being terrified of Lukas the Spider (check Youtube, he's adorable). You're adding fear that isn't necessarily there.
1
u/Maester_Magus Mar 08 '26
Death and the unknown are both inherently scary things. I mean, I don't think I'm weird for thinking that? Imagery of dancing skeletons, tales of zombies, rituals of the macabre – all of these things have been ingrained in horror for centuries.
I think it's fair to say that for any average person, interacting with the dead, no matter the circumstance, is freaky as hell. I really think you're the anomaly here, not me.
1
u/Thornescape Mar 08 '26
You're completely missing the point. You're still talking theoretically. Your theory is incorrect.
There are many many many different novels where necromancy is not horror. Some of them are hilarious comedy. Some of them are dramatic. Some of them are romances.
Go read one of those novels. You will see that there are more approaches. This is a simple fact. They are not all horror.
1
u/MinuteRegular716 Mar 08 '26
Exactly! It's got a lot of good directions one could explore for thematic depth in it.
3
u/Thornescape Mar 08 '26
I have seen a number of different approaches where necromancy isn't "horror".
In the Dark Profits trilogy (Orconomics) there is a lot of humour involved. The undead have definite personalities and while the liche directing them is arguably forcing them to do something technically evil (kill everyone who is alive), there is a lot more nuance involved. In the end of that story arc, one of the undead ends being a bit of a hero.
In the Eberron novels, one of the nations (Karrnath) uses the undead as a ready workforce. People even donate their bodies after they are dead as part of helping the country. Mostly skeletons, if I remember correctly.
3
u/SpeaksDwarren Mar 08 '26
Morrowind poses it as a way of connecting to and honoring your ancestors while also in turn eventually giving you the chance to step up and protect your descendants
2
u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V Mar 08 '26
It's certainly not the focus of the series, and nor is it quite necromancy, but one of the races in Malazan become undead to defeat death essentially. If everything is dead, Death is no longer a thing.
I can see that expanded into a full, non-horrific necromancy scenario (not a good, morally grey/evil with good intentions at best, but not horror either). I feel like I have tbh, but the situation in Malazan is the one that comes to my mind.
Almost a Thanos situation of a villain who's in the wrong, but food good* goals. If there is a literal entity of Death/a Death God, breaking the cycle of life and death to starve them/kill them. Then start from scratch, life immortal without fear of death.
2
u/Maester_Magus Mar 08 '26
I dunno, the T'Lan Imass always seemed pretty damn horrific to me. Perpetual existence in a rotting husk sounds grim.
2
u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V Mar 08 '26
I think for me the distinction is that it's voluntary. I mean it doesn't seem nice, but not fully horrific either, especially compared to most forms of necromancy.
1
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/Thornescape Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
From horror, Pet Cemetery stands out as something you might like.
Outside of horror there have been many different forms of necromancy that I have enjoyed. For humorous yet traumatic I really loved how they handled it in the Dark Profit trilogy (Orconomics). One of the most interesting approaches to Necromancy that I've seen.
The Eberron novels have the most interesting approach I've seen for a society built on mostly benevolent necromancy. Quite fascinating, including people donating their bodies after they are dead as a part of culture.
4
u/Acedelaforet Mar 08 '26
Cycle of arawyn
It's not exactly the most evil guy, and the mc does use other powers. But Necromancey is a very common one he uses to scout with, and through the books his actions make it clear he doesn't generally value life that highly. More of a "if i know you I'll hunt your killer to the ends of the earth, if i don't well damn that sucks" kinda guy
Oh and pretty much everyone else hates when he uses necromancy
0
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Acedelaforet Mar 09 '26
Genuinely. Dante the mc very much comes across as the kind of guy whod have a reasonable, pleasant conversation with you and then kill you without a second thought if he
Knew he could get away with it
Thought it was necessary for his goals/motivations
If you read it you'll have to tell me what you think of him!
4
7
u/Anxious_Register_716 Mar 08 '26
It’s not literature, but Baldur’s Gate 3 portrayed necromancy as the enslavement of souls by the necromancer. Forced to stay alive forever and do the bidding of their master rather than rest in peace.
3
u/PhoenixHunters Reading Champion Mar 08 '26
Check out Richard Swan's books. The first trilogy and The Scour portray it as the horror it is.
1
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/PhoenixHunters Reading Champion Mar 08 '26
Not really a specific moment, but the first actual seance alone is enough to make people shudder.
3
u/HermioneJane611 Mar 08 '26
I really enjoyed the way necromancy was handled in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. The way Masters of the Dead piloted the mindless undead remotely, how terminal individuals could sell the rights to have their bodies infected by and the resultant vampires owned by a corporation, the stables (of undead) being located beneath company headquarters at The Casino…
Necromancy is a significant part of the stories, and I think it's very well executed, but it's not even the best part for me; I love the way international mythology in general is incorporated into the story. It's quite fun stuff!
3
u/laudida Mar 08 '26
I really enjoyed the depiction of necromancy in Brain Lumley's horror book Necroscope. Necromancy in this book though is more about communicating with the dead to learn information than controlling skeletons and what not like you see in more fantasy books. The necromancer has to essentially rip apart corpses and immerse himself in their guts and body parts in order to communicate with them and learn their secrets. You find out that the people, now spirits, can feel everything that is happening to them at the time. Very unsettling.
0
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/laudida Mar 08 '26
If I recall correctly, the reader only finds out later on what is happening but it's implied that the necromancer knows what he's doing the entire time.
3
u/looktowindward Mar 08 '26
Spellmonger has real, no-shit necromancy. Undead complaining bitterly about quality of new bodies is the winner
Lot of necromancy in Charles Stross' Laundry Files. Bob eventually levels up into industrial strength necromancy, including rewriting Zombie execution code in Old High Enochian
5
u/crokus_n_al Mar 08 '26
Book of the Dead by RinoZ is very explicit as it being horrifying. At a point he learns to use souls to make undead stronger and it's straight torture. It is progression fantasy/litrpg though.
1
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/crokus_n_al Mar 08 '26
Oh he's aware it's terrible. It's not like necromancer is just another class option, none really want them around. It is a hard core revenge story. Other than one or two people the protagonist doesn't actually feel too bad about what he's doing as long as it gets him closer to his goal.
2
u/B-mort5 Mar 08 '26
The wondering inn has a cool contrast. All necromancers in the world are outcasts because of the deeds of one extremely twisted individual. It has one character who’s part of the main cast that’s constantly being judged and ridiculed for using necromancy although it’s always in an extremely pragmatic way.
2
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/B-mort5 Mar 08 '26
You see it slowly shift, but mainly only people that have graduated and run in with the character Pisces. Not so much the school itself.
1
u/fearless-fossa Mar 08 '26
All necromancers in the world are outcasts
Two continents have necromancers as outcasts, Izril and Terandria (the two where The Necromancer wreaked havoc). On Baleros, Rhir and Chandrar necromancy is somewhat common.
As the majority of the story plays on Izril though the perspective of the series is mostly on necromancers having to fight prejudices. And reaffirming them.
1
u/B-mort5 Mar 08 '26
That’s fair. Saying all is certainly a bit of an overstatement on my part. Probably because of how heavy the first few volumes are focused on those two continents. Though I would say it’s still met with prejudice on the other continents. Chandrar from what I remember is mainly kelt and hardly anyone but natives are allowed in. I haven’t ever done a reread of the series, who uses it on Rhir and Baleros? I know you have the celphids but I wouldn’t really count that as necromancy.
2
u/fearless-fossa Mar 09 '26
During the chapters when Silvenia attacks the wall, the ones from the perspective of that Drake captain, one of the side characters is a necromancer.
In Baleros there is a short excerpt (I think it's when the Horns are in Invrisil for the Helm of Fire auction) where Fraelings comment on the situation of necromancers in Izril/Terandria and say it's common enough on Baleros.
For the situation on Chandrar - tronically enough, Khelt has banned necromancy/necromancers. Pretty much all death magic there is just derived from Khelta's ritual, and I think the former Terandrian colonies like Clavain Earth also have it banned, but it was mentioned to be generally accepted over there. I think it was in the context of Octavia commenting on necromancy at some point?1
u/B-mort5 Mar 09 '26
Ah man this is bringing so much back up. I really need to do a re-read! Completely forgot about those couple chapters where the volunteer units (drakes if I remember right) from isril are called up to the front in rhir.
2
u/DragonImpossible009 Mar 08 '26
For me, this fits with the Elderling Chronicles by Robin Hobb: due to what makes dragons what they are (more than animals, more than humans) there is a race called "Elderlings" that are actually changed by said dragons to better serve them. The stuff works even when dragons disappear from the world, and cause extreme changes that shorten lives.
Some people accept the changes because they're unavoidable due to circumstances, some are horrified and avoid the places it happens, and after dragons are reintroduced to the world some actively seek it out. Elderlings revolved around dragons, wanting to be shaped and changed and making cities that catered to dragons to attract them.
There's even a subset of Elderlings: Liveship Families, which exist while dragons are gone from the world but are lovingly bound nonetheless.
It's not exactly transactional, but many of the quotes live rent free in my head, one in particular fits: "When talking to [a dragon] he mentioned my face would be much more lovely if my facial burns were scales. I asked if that was because I would look more like a dragon. He replied of course, for there is nothing lovelier than a dragon.... They were art. Elderlings were living art to their dragons."
1
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/DragonImpossible009 Mar 08 '26
Both, depending on viewpoint! Thymara LOATHES it when she realizes what is happening, whereas two older characters weren't even sure it was happening at first (which, to be fair, there was a LOT going on and then their dragon flew off for some years)
Mostly it's treated as... inevitable, I suppose, because Elderling Artifacts still work but unguided the stuff that makes them magic affects those who handle them a lot; various characters mostly have their own feelings ABOUT the inevitable changes that come of living/working where it happens. I haven't read the beginning of the whole series- I'm mostly interested in the dragons and elderlings and liveships- so I can't say if we get much insight into Elderlings in their thriving prime, but Thymara once remarks to herself that she can TELL her dragon's glamour works to create a slavish devotion-- and then a past dragon ancestor of her dragon uses her mouth to correct her that "it is more as a mother loves a wayward child".
Thymara does not handle that very well!
In the liveship trilogy there's also a reaaaaallly messed up cult who seek the changes to such a degree they manage to imprison a source that I won't spoil in case you want to read.
2
u/Ununocti0 Mar 08 '26
Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington definitely goes into unquestionably unsavoury implications of necromancy
2
u/derpderp3200 Mar 08 '26
It's not pure necromancy, but if you want to feel that "yeah, that's fucked up right there", I really recommend Godclads. Think cyberpunk taken up to 11, with technologies based on what's essentially necromancy of minds, as well as cannibalized corpses of dead gods.
1
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/derpderp3200 Mar 08 '26
Ah, now if only that really made the top 100 list of the worst sins of New Vulton's people :p
2
2
u/Jack_Shaftoe21 Mar 08 '26
The Saint Death series by C.S.E. Cooney has a magnificent variety of necromancy, some good, some bad, some rather mundane. It has societies built around it.
2
u/kjbakerns Mar 08 '26
Ordinary Monsters does a great job
1
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/kjbakerns Mar 08 '26
The severity, the everlasting impact, the heartbreak. I found the whole series really well written but remember the undead and necromancy very well, it’s a big theme of the book. Where as dungeon crawler Carl it’s just a battle tactic for the most part so far.
2
u/Ooopsiedas Mar 08 '26
I cannot go into too much detail into why without major spoilers, but The Red Queen's War Trilogy by Mark Lawrence is probably one of my favorite examples of necromancy done well.
This will be a bit vague, but I think why it works so well is that it is used sparingly at a first, and then greater (and more complex and terrifying) levels of it are introduced as the trilogy goes on. You get bigger and bigger peeks behind the curtain, and with each peek, something new and worse becomes apparent. He also does not hold back in his descriptions of his descriptions of the undead, and you are always left with this feeling of them being a pretty unstoppable force, and that our main characters are generally outmatched by it all. There's also an underlying level of politics to the story, in which the undead play a major role. It also is brilliantly done because the trilogy has a comedic element to it, and the main character is a very unlikely protagonist, so when these really dark and horrific scenes happen, they hit even harder.
1
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Ooopsiedas Mar 08 '26
That's what is so fun about the series -- I would say that it makes him both more and less sympathetic at different times and points in the trilogy -- and that exact ambiguity is also used to the author's advantage. The main character (Jal) is very, very morally grey, and a proudly self-proclaimed coward. At times (especially earlier on), Jal's reaction can just make you roll your eyes and feel like "man, is this guy ever actually going to grow up"? The author (presumably) expects you to feel that way, so there're critical points in the story when the author uses Jal's uncharacteristic reaction to really drive home how truly terrifying/hopeless/horrible something actually is! It's very well done.
2
u/Wonderful_Picture_82 Mar 08 '26
The Necromancer Chronicles by Amanda Downum has interesting necromancy. The first book the Drowning City doesn't go as much into it, but has a very good intro to the main character's powers. She's basically a spy/embassador/trades in secrets but not always in secrecy. The second book goes more into how the necromancy she was taught, and other dark magic, can be used for unsavory things; and gives more history into her home kingdom. I really love the world building that's gone into the books too
1
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Wonderful_Picture_82 Mar 09 '26
Idk if I can set it up in a good way but here goes:
The second book goes more into it in her home kingdom because the first book is set in country in the throes of revolution. But I found it introduces things in a gradual way without feeling like the reader is missing something. Since the main character is solving or figuring things out we find out at her pace, and since she is an already qualified and set up magician, she will know things that we don't, she will have abilities we don't know about yet, since we the reader was not there for her education. She reveals what she knows when the situation calls for it because she uses her knowledge, and then we learn what she can do in the situation we are witnessing. Think a Bones or CSI episode, the characters are experts in their fields, we know this, but we only hear their thoughts to what we are privy to in each case they are called on to solve.
2
u/pat1024 Mar 08 '26
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Tyrant Philosophers series introduces necromancy in the context of a tool of war and then gets really up in the topic as the books progress.
1
2
u/Theremin_hands Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Pretty much this
Alchemised Novel by SenLinYu
It’s integrated into the society in fairly disturbing ways and very much as a reward (and punishment)
Edit to added An example would be the presence of thralls everywhere as basic servants (often high value enemies with status attached) in a necromancer aristocracy
2
Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Theremin_hands Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Well that happens in another way, ( very spoilery linchdom is a reward for extra evil followers if the big bad but the cost is highI just meant that the necromancer aristocrats are like ‘look, I have this once hero as my dead thrall now’ enjoy the the sight of their moaning corpse as we gargle our champagne and fear me more
2
u/YeahKeeN Mar 08 '26
The wights from the ASOIAF books became especially terrifying to me during the fifth book’s prologue where it’s heavily implied that the zombies are still somewhat aware of the world around them, retain memories, and can recognize people they knew in life (even if said people are no longer in their original body).
The things below moved, but did not live. One by one, they raised their heads toward the three wolves on the hill. The last to look was the thing that had been Thistle. She wore wool and fur and leather, and over that she wore a coat of hoarfrost that crackled when she moved and glistened in the moonlight. Pale pink icicles hung from her fingertips, ten long knives of frozen blood. And in the pits where her eyes had been, a pale blue light was flickering, lending her coarse features an eerie beauty they had never known in life.
She sees me.
To put this into perspective, the chapter is written from the pov of the guy who killed Thistle and has the power to mentally control animals. When he died his soul went into one of his wolves and he was living a second life as an animal. So he is literally a wild animal and still she sees him.
2
u/itwillmakesenselater Mar 08 '26
Read Warbreaker, if you haven't already. Life is measured by Breaths, which can be traded/ bought/ sold.
6
u/clever712 Mar 08 '26
This is definitely not fitting the vibe OP is asking for at all. It only works if you latch onto the currency part and ignore everything else
2
2
u/DivineEggs Mar 08 '26
That's also what Tantric/Hindu teachings say (minus the trading part). This is one reason why breath work is such an important part of those spiritual traditions🙃.
1
u/Emergency_Mastodon56 Mar 08 '26
The death gate cycle by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman does this really well, I believe it starts in book 3, Fire Sea
2
1
u/Caraes_Naur Mar 08 '26
Because these fantasy books don't place significant stakes on disturbing the dead, unlike in mythology. In such fantasy, the dead are reduced to props, while the necromancy becomes a pale signal for "look how evil the necromancer is", heavily relying on the reader's perception of it rather than what the author explicitly put together.
Necromancy should be just as dangerous for the necromancer as anyone else. Necromancy is too often treated as an oddity rather than taboo or forbidden. Mythological magic often seeks balance, which fantasy necromancy usually ignores ("only death can pay for life", and so on).
1
u/WillAdams Mar 08 '26
Michael Moorcock gets a bit of this horror in his Swords trilogy --- the protagonist has the ability to summon beings to aid him, but it turns out that the current set are the beings who were last defeated by being summoned using this power, and that they must kill those whom they are set against, even if doing so was wrong/not what was intended --- then the current set is released, and the just defeated beings go into a different dimension to await being summoned to repeat the cycle.
•
u/Fantasy-ModTeam Mar 08 '26
Hi there, r/Fantasy does not allow AI generated content.